Catchings Named All-Star for Eighth Time

INDIANAPOLIS – As part of online balloting by fans, Indiana Fever star Tamika Catchings has been voted as a starter for the 2013 Boost Mobile WNBA All-Star Game. For Catchings, it is the eighth time she has been selected as a starter in the WNBA All-Star Game. She has been voted a starter for every game since her rookie season, and will be joined on the East squad by Fever coach Lin Dunn and the Indiana coaching staff.

Second in the East and fourth overall in 2013 WNBA All-Star Balloting presented by Boost Mobile, Catchings finished as the East’s leading vote-getter in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2011. The league’s MVP in 2011 and the Finals MVP in 2012, she is currently averaging 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.4 steals per game during her 12th active season.

Remaining spots on the East and West All-Star rosters will be named Tuesday, July 23 during a nationally televised game between the New York Liberty and the Fever on ESPN2 (7:00 p.m.). The 12 WNBA head coaches select reserves by voting for six players within their own conference. Fever guard Shavonte Zellous is a hopeful candidate to earn her first All-Star selection.

The 2013 Boost Mobile WNBA All-Star Game will be held on Saturday, July 27 (3:30 p.m., ABC-TV) at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The last time Mohegan Sun Arena hosted the WNBA All-Star Game (2009), Dunn became the first Fever coach ever to guide the East All-Stars. By virtue of being the reigning Eastern Conference champions, Dunn and her staff will lead the East again.

Dunn, who recently received a one-year contract extension to coach the Fever through 2014, is currently in her sixth season as head coach of the Indiana franchise, leading the club to five straight playoff appearances and its first WNBA championship in 2012. She is the winningest coach in franchise history with 108 victories, and eighth in WNBA history with 141 coaching wins, counting three years as head coach and general manager of the Seattle Storm.

Joining Dunn at the All-Star sidelines will be assistant coaches Mickie DeMoss and Stephanie White, and trainer Todd Champlin. White is the first former pro player ever hired as a Fever coach and though she played five seasons in the WNBA, this will be her first appearance at the All-Star Game. It will also be the first All-Star appearance for both DeMoss and Champlin.